Situated on the Isle of St Louis in Paris, the Hôtel Lambert is not only a legendary intellectual, cultural and political salon of the Great Emigration, inextricably linked with the figure of Adam Jerzy Duke Czartoryski. It is also a masterpiece of architecture.

Creators of the Hôtel Lambert

The Hôtel Lambert was designed by the architect Louis Le Vau (one of the main representatives of Baroque Classicism of the age of Louis XIV) and built between 1640 and 1644, originally for the financier Jean-Baptiste Lambert (d. 1644), who owned many similar residences.

The building had nothing to do with hotels in the modern sense. It was created as a so-called Hôtel particulier , i.e. an exclusive residence, a demonstration of the owner's financial capabilities. In Poland, such a building would be called a city palace.

The interiors were decorated by the famous designers and stucco artists of the time, Charles Le Brun, François Perrier and Eustache Le Sueur, creating one of the most beautiful, innovative and iconographically consistent examples of decorative painting in mid-17th century France. The frescoes and interior stuccowork were created over a period of almost five years. The results were, among other things, spectacular and bold allegories related to the myth of Heracles.

Some works of art originally housed at the Hôtel Lambert ended up in the royal collection and then in the Louvre, where they remain today. A unique place was the Cabinet de l'Amour (Cabinet of Love), which in its original configuration had a recess for a canopy bed.

In the 1740s, the Marquise du Châtelet and her lover Voltaire used the Hôtel Lambert as their Parisian residence. The Marquis du Châtelet sold the building to Claude Dupin and his wife Louise-Marie, who continued the salon tradition. The Dupins were relatives of the writer George Sand, who was a frequent guest at the mansion. Her relationship with Frédéric Chopin marked the beginning of a Polish phase in the history of the Hôtel Lambert, which lasted for more than 130 years.

Hôtel Lambert and its owners - the Czartoryskis

Adam Jerzy Prince Czartoryski, known as the 'uncrowned king of Poland', bought the property in 1842. Chopin and Delacroix were said to be behind the transaction, and in fact they persuaded the prince's wife, Anna née Sapieha, to do so. The spouse could not refuse. According to historian Rafal Habielski, the Fourth Quarter at the time was one of the worst in Paris, so the buyer certainly did not overpay.

The new owner was a prominent figure for his era. In his youth, he was associated with the tsarist court, an advocate of reform and Polish independence under the Romanov sceptre, held the post of foreign minister of the Russian Empire and was a personal advisor to Tsar Alexander I. During the Congress of Vienna (1815), he became famous as one of the architects of the Polish Kingdom. During the November Uprising (1830-1831), he joined the insurrectionary authorities (among other things, he was Chairman of the National Government). As a senator, he signed the act dethroning Nicholas I Romanov, for which the Tsar sentenced him in absentia to death by beheading. After the fall of the uprising, he fled to France, where he began the exile phase of his life.

Hôtel Lambert - the centre of Polishness in Paris

The Paris residence of the Hôtel Lambert became the centre of Polishness on the Seine, serving as the main focus of the Great Emigration and the embassy of a country that did not exist on the map - Poland. From here radiated the idea of Polish independence, which the indefatigable Adam Czartoryski did not allow the rulers and societies of his day to forget.

The Hôtel Lambert was also an outpost of Polish intelligence managed by the Prince's trusted man, Karol Sienkiewicz, who, as Adam Czartoryski's personal secretary, oversaw a network of agents and informants in Europe and beyond. The Hôtel Lambert went down in history not only as a property, but also as a political camp seeking the liberation of Poland.

The residence remained both a cultural salon and a discussion club. Guests here included: Fryderyk Chopin (who composed the famous Polonaise with a view to the annual balls held at the Hôtel Lambert), Cyprian Kamil Norwid (apparently he was not denied wine here), Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Adam Mickiewicz, Zygmunt Krasiński, Józef Bem - to name just the greatest. The cream of the French and the world have also been here: Eugène Delacroix, Honoré de Balzac, Franz Liszt. It is no exaggeration to say that this thoroughly Polish house was one of the salons of Europe at the time.

The Hôtel Lambert and its successive owners

After the Duke's death in 1861, the building remained in the hands of his heirs. At the turn of the century, the Hôtel Lambert was discreetly divided into several luxury flats for rent. It became the home of influential and wealthy individuals, including Baron de Redé, who rented the ground floor of the building from 1947. De Redé spent time here with his lover Arturo López- Willshaw, who was formally married. Redé and Lopez-Willshaw's parties were among the most celebrated in all of Paris. In 1969, de Redé held his most famous Oriental Ball here, whose guests included: Guy de Rothschild, Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot or Margaret II, Queen of Denmark.

In 1975, the Czartoryski heirs sold the Hôtel Lambert to Baron Guy de Rothschild, whose wife Marie-Hélène de Rothschild was a close friend of Baron de Redé. At the time, it was one of the most famous transactions on the European property market. The sum of the sale was 6 million dollars at the time. In September 2007. Hôtel Lambert changed owners again, being sold to Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, brother of the Emir of Qatar, for the alleged sum of €80 million.

The building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was in need of extensive renovation as elements of its wooden structure had faded into decay. The new plan to renovate and modernise the building (including plans to install lifts, air conditioning and the construction of an underground car park) caused controversy and protests from historians and conservationists. One historic preservationist stated that the project evokes 'the aesthetics of a James Bond villa'. Former tenant Michèle Morgan, a French cinema icon, suggested that wealthy clients who want a luxurious, modern 'bespoke' residence should consider a larger site on the outskirts of Paris rather than a historic location bounded on all sides by the Seine. However, Alain-Charles Perrot, the architect responsible for the project, suggested that objections to the redevelopment had a racist context.

After several years of disputes, a settlement was reached between the owners and the Ministry of Culture and the Paris Town Hall, and the redevelopment was authorised under the supervision of the Bâtiments de France, the conservation authority. Work began in 2010. Unfortunately, on 10 July 2013, part of the building was severely damaged by a fire that broke out on the roof during the renovation work. The bathroom with the ceiling frescoes, considered to be a masterpiece, was completely destroyed during the firefighters' action. The frescoes in the Hall of Hercules were also severely damaged.

There were rumours that in the 1970s the Czartoryski family made a favourable offer to the communist government to purchase the property. However, the offer was reportedly rejected. However, it has not been possible to find documents confirming that such talks actually took place. This is a pity, as an embassy of the independent Republic in the Hôtel Lambert would have been the realisation of a great dream of Adam Duke Czartoryski.